VANCOUVER, B.C., July 6 — On Saturday July 7th, William Brehl, President of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference and six (6) TCRC MWED members who were arrested by CP Police while legally picketing against CP Rail, met with NDP Transport Critic Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminster) and NDP Labour Critic Libby Davies (Vancouver East).
Background
On May 29th, 2007, while legally on strike from their employment at C PRail, six (6) TCRC MWED members were arrested by CP security Police. They were peacefully and legally picketing a CP Rail facility in Coquitlam when CP security Police arrested them and forced them onto CP Rail property where they were detained for over an hour prior to being transported to a police station for processing. Though none of the Union members offered any resistance, one was viciously assaulted by a CP Police security officer and all had their charter rights violated and were handcuffed, detained and searched.
To view actual video footage of the arrest and assault, go to:
http://www.teamsters.ca/page_section.php?idPage=137
All charges failed to be upheld the following day when a Judge quashed the ‘Notice to appear’ and referred to the matter as “oppressive.”
Teamsters Canada National President Robert Bouvier has called for a public inquiry into the matter and MP’s Peter Julian and Libby Davies have written to Prime Minister Harper questioning the incident and requesting an investigation.
Saturday’s Meeting
The July 7th meeting will be an opportunity for interested parties to speak directly with the six (6) who were arrested, as well as their Union leaders and Members of Parliament, to better understand the incident itself and to determine what course of action needs to be taken going forward.